Allyson Watterson Update: Missing Oregon Woman Last Seen On Hike With Boyfriend

On Monday, Allyson Watterson was reported missing. Since then, search efforts have been underway as law enforcement attempts to locate the 20-year-old, who was last seen when she went on a hike with her boyfriend, Benjamin Garland, near Portland, Oregon.

According to ABC News, Garland said that the two had become separated after hiking in the wooded area near North Plains. As the investigation has progressed, new details have emerged, which have reportedly shifted the ongoing work. However, any evidence they may have been recovered has been withheld from the public at this time.

"I’m not free to say what it is at this point. Just know that it’s something that’s going to change the type of searching we’re doing," Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Morris stated on Thursday during a press conference.

Continuing, he added, "[We] have found some interesting items and clues that we’re going to try to find out more information tomorrow with a different type of search." As for how those new items were located, it was revealed that they were discovered by search and rescue workers and would ultimately cause the entire investigation to "slow down quite a bit."

Additionally, it was stated that at one point after Watterson went missing, Garland was asleep in his truck and brought back to his home. Later, he and his father revisited the area to look for Watterson, which later resulted in notifying her family when she could not be located.

Following her disappearance, Garland was arrested for unrelated charges. On Thursday, he appeared in court on charges of identity theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, as reported by Mercury News. He has also been accused of violating probation stemming from a 2017 case. As stated by KATU2, he has pleaded not guilty to all charges and was ordered to be held on more than $2,000 bail. His next court date is set for Jan. 3.

The search efforts reportedly resumed Friday morning.